| 4th February |
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| Men jailed for planning terrorist attack on the Jymands-Posten and Kurt Westergaard Permalink full story: Mohammed Cartoons...Cartoons outrage the muslim world
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See article
from bbc.co.uk
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A
Norwegian court has convicted two muslim men of planning to attack Danish
newspaper Jyllands-Posten after it printed cartoons of Muhammad.
Mikael Davud, a Norwegian from China's ethnic Uighur minority who had
links to al-Qaeda, was jailed for seven years.
An Iraqi Kurd, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, was given three-and-a-half
years. Another man, David Jakobsen, was cleared of terror charges.
The judge said that Davud had planned the attack together with
al-Qaeda.
During the trial, prosecutors said that Davud had learned about
explosives at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan and, together with Bujak, had
planned to use them against the Danish newspaper. It was also claimed they
had intended to kill Kurt Westergaard, who drew some of the cartoons.
Bujak admitted his hatred for the cartoonist but said he and Davud had
gone no further than discussing the possibility of punishing Kurt
Westergaard and the newspaper.
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| 4th February |
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| Over 3000 Muslims Attack Christian Homes and Shops in Egypt, 3 Injured Permalink full story: Muslims attacking Copts...Minority christian Copts uder continuous attack
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See article
from aina.org
by Mary Abdelmassih
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A
mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat,
Alexandria. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two
Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread
that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his
mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police for
his own protection.
According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white
gowns. They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood,
according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children
who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.
According to Father Boktor Nashed from St. George's Church in el-Nahdah,
a meeting between Muslim and Christian representatives was supposed to take
place in the evening in Kobry-el-Sharbat. But, by 3 P.M. a Muslim mob looted
and torched the home of Mourad Samy Guirgis, as well as the home of his
family and three homes of Coptic neighbors. A number of Coptic-owned shops
and businesses were also looted and torched. We contacted security
forces, but they arrived very, very late, Said Father Nashad. The fire
brigade was prevented from going into the village by the Muslims and the
fires were left to burn themselves out. Those who lost their home, left
the village, said Father Nashed.
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| 3rd February |
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| ASA censure of bollox claims about healing by prayer causes offence to religious group Permalink
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See article
from asa.org.uk
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A
website and a leaflet, for Healing on the Streets - Bath, viewed on 10
May 2011:
a. The website home page stated Our vision is to :-
Promote Christian Healing as a daily life style for every believer, through
demonstration, training and equipping. We are working in unity, from
numerous churches outside the four walls of the building, In order to :- -
Heal the sick ....
A page headed What people have told us afterwards ...
included five testimonials in which people stated that after receiving
prayer their conditions had been improved.
b. The leaflet was available for download on the website
under the heading Download a healing flyer by clicking below. The
leaflet stated NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! Do you suffer from Back
Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction ... Ulcers, Depression, Allergies,
Fibromyalgia, Asthma, Paralysis, Crippling Disease, Phobias, Sleeping
disorders or any other sickness? We'd love to pray for your healing right
now! We're Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus.
We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness. Issue
A complainant challenged whether:
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the claim in ad (b) that the advertiser could heal
the named conditions was misleading and could be substantiated;
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the testimonials in ad (a) misleadingly implied that
the advertiser could heal the conditions referred to; and
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the ads were irresponsible, because they provided
false hope to those suffering from the named conditions.
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The ASA challenged whether the ads could discourage
essential treatment for conditions for which medical supervision should
be sought.
ASA Assessment: Complaints Upheld
1., 2. & 3. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that HOTS sought to promote their
faith and the hope for physical healing by God through the claims in their
ads. However, we were concerned that the prominent references in ad (b) to
healing and the statement You have nothing to lose, except your sickness
in combination with the references to medical conditions for which medical
supervision should be sought such as arthritis, asthma, MS, addictions,
depression and paralysis, could give consumers the expectation that, by
receiving prayer from HOTS volunteers, they would be healed of the
conditions listed or other sicknesses from which they suffered. We also
considered that the testimonials in ad (a) could also give consumers that
expectation, and furthermore, noted that a video on the website also made
claims that HOTS volunteers had successfully prayed for healing for people
with cancer, fibromyalgia, back pain, kidney pain, hip pain, cataracts,
arthritis and paralysis. We noted the testimonials on the website and in the
video but considered that testimonials were insufficient as evidence for
claims of healing. We therefore concluded the ads were misleading.
We acknowledged that HOTS volunteers believed that
prayer could treat illness and medical conditions, and that therefore the
ads did not promote false hope. However, we noted we had not seen evidence
that people had been healed through the prayer of HOTS volunteers, and
concluded that the ads could encourage false hope in those suffering from
the named conditions and therefore were irresponsible.
We acknowledged that HOTS had offered to make amendments
to the ads, and to remove the leaflet from their website. However, we
considered that their suggested amendments were not sufficient for the ads
to comply with the CAP Code.
On these points, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code rules
1.3 (Social responsibility), 3.1 and 3.6 (Misleading advertising), 3.7
(Substantiation), 3.47 (Endorsements and testimonials), 12.1 and 12.6
(Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
4. Upheld
We understood that HOTS volunteers were instructed to
give a letter to the recipients of prayer which told them they should not
stop taking their medication or following the advice of medical
professionals. We also noted their offer to add a prominent reference along
the lines of that letter to their website. However, we considered that,
because both the leaflet and the website made claims that through the prayer
offered by HOTS volunteers people could be healed of specific medical
conditions for which medical supervision should be sought such as arthritis,
asthma, MS, addictions, depression and paralysis, the ads could discourage
people, and particularly the vulnerable or those suffering from undiagnosed
symptoms, from seeking essential treatment for medical conditions for which
medical supervision should be sought. We concluded the ad breached the Code.
On this point, ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code rule
12.2 (Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty
products). Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We
told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving
prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions.
We also told them not to refer in their ads to medical conditions for which
medical supervision should be sought.
HOTS Bath official response
From
hotsbath.org
We are disappointed with the ASA's decision, and will
appeal against it because it seems very odd to us that the ASA wants to
prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian belief that God
can heal illness.
The ASA has even demanded that we sign a document
agreeing not to say this, which is unacceptable to us - as it no doubt would
be for anyone ordered not to make certain statements about their
conventional religious or philosophical beliefs.
All over the world as part of their normal Christian
life, Christians believe in, pray for and experience God's healing; our
ministry, in common with many churches, has been active in praying for God's
healing (of Christians and non Christians) for many years.
Over that time the response to what we do has been
overwhelmingly positive, and we find it difficult to understand the ASA's
attempt to restrict communication about this. Our website simply states our
beliefs and describes some of our experiences.
We tried to reach a compromise, recognising some of the
ASA's concerns, but there are certain things that we cannot agree to --
including a ban on expressing our beliefs.
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| 3rd February |
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| Netherlands bans the burkha Permalink
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See article
from vladtepesblog.com
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The
Netherlands government has just approved a ban on face-covering
clothing.
After France and Belgium, the Netherlands is the third European country
where a burqa ban in force.
People on the street a burqa, a balaclava or a full helmet, can soon look
forward to a fine.
Liesbeth Spies, Home Affairs Minister said it's very important that
people find each other in an open society open approach.
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| 30th January |
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| Religious broadcaster somehow deffed out as Poland upgrades to digital TV Permalink
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See article
from monstersandcritics.com
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Tadeusz
Rydzyk is one of Poland's most controversial and at the same
time most influential priests, building up a media empire over
the past 20 years. The conservative Catholic is the moving
spirit behind Radio Maryja, the newspaper Nasz Dziennik and the
television station Trwam.
While Rydzyk is adored by his adherents, he faces sharp
criticism from many others, including the Vatican and many
Polish bishops, for what they see as a narrow-minded and
intolerant attitude out of tune with the times and Polish
society.
But now Rydzyk's media empire is under threat. The Polish
Broadcasting Council failed to include Trwam when it issued
broadcast licences for the new digital network that is to cover
Poland from next year onwards.
The Broadcasting Council doubted whether Rydzyk's Trwam had
the necessary financial means to make the leap into the digital
era. If an applicant fails to meet the requirements, no
licence is awarded. There are no holy cows. We live under the
rule of law not under the rule of Father Rydzyk, Dariusz
Jonski, spokesman for the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), said
in defending the decision.
Rydzyk immediately named those he held responsible for the
decision, accusing them of a conspiracy. The Broadcasting
Council was dominated by Poland's liberal and left-wing parties,
he said. We have the feeling that this has been manipulated.
Somebody is behind this, said the conservative priest, who
stands accused of being overtly political in his broadcasts.
Poland's conservative nationalist opposition is up in arms at
what it sees as a disgraceful decision by the Broadcasting
Council. Rydzyk's audience has also mobilized. According to
Radio Maryja, they have sent around 100,000 protest letters to
the Broadcasting Council. The letters were not in every case
models of Christian charity, with some anonymous messages making
open threats against members of the council. How dare you
serve Satan and foreign interests? You will suffer! one of
the letters said, according to Polish media reports.
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| 30th January |
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| Pakistani TV presenter sacked for acting like the religious police Permalink
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See article
from dailymail.co.uk
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A
Pakistani TV host has been sacked after an episode of her
morning TV programme showed her ambushing young couples and
demanding to know whether they were involved in immoral
behavior.
Samaa TV host Maya Khan was filmed charging around a park in
Lahore, Pakistan, asking youngsters what they were up to,
whether they were married or engaged and if their parents knew
where they were.
In one particularly cringeworthy scene the 31-year-old host -
who has been dubbed the vigil-auntie - demanded to see a
couple's wedding certificate after they told her they were
married.
The show sparked outrage with viewers branded it - a witch
hunt and taking to the internet in their thousands to
register their disgust. Within hours of the broadcast on January
17th, several online petitions had sprung up demanding that Khan
be sacked. Samaa TV said Khan had been sacked after she refused
to give an unconditional apology
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| 30th January |
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| Salman Rushdie has found peace, but the Satanic Verses affair won't go away Permalink full story: Satanic Verses...Salman Rushdie irritation of the muslim world
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See article
from guardian.co.uk
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The
terror of Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa has faded but the challenge it
posed to artistic freedom has not, as a brush with the Indian
authorities has shown
...Read the full article
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| 30th January |
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| Tunisians protests against increasing prominence of islamists Permalink
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See article
from straitstimes.com
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Thousands
of Tunisians angered by the increasing prominence of ultra-conservative
Islamists in a country only recently freed from dictatorial rule took to the
streets in protest on Saturday.
An AFP correspondent estimated several thousand activists,
professors, artists and other demonstrators flooded the streets
of the nation's capital, including along Bourguiba Avenue, a
well-known thoroughfare that became a centre for dissent during
protests that led to the ouster of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben
Ali a year ago.
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| 30th January |
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| Dutch satirist has fun with his burkha song Permalink
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See article
from rnw.nl
See
video from
youtube.com
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Dutch
satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit Doe De
Boerka (Do the Burqa) onstage following death threats.
The song, a carnival parody to the music of Van McCoy's Do
the Hustle, is a huge success on YouTube. However the video
provider has switched off the comments facility as too many
people were posting angry reactions saying that they had been
insulted.
The images show a woman wearing a T-shirt which can be
instantly lifted and converted into a burqa.
Vlemmix said he had expected some commotion over his song:
I'm not exactly dumb. But he had failed to anticipate the
virulence of the reactions: I really meant it as a joke.
Because the burqa is banned in the Netherlands I thought it was
fun to offer a carnival alternative for it: the burqa shirt.
Carnival, a colourful, musical and noisy feast celebrated
annually in the southern half of the Netherlands, is often used
to mock authorities and make fun of social issues by people
dressed up or disguised in humorous creations.
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| 29th January |
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| TV presenters pick up some trivial flak Permalink
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24th January 2012. See article
from telegraph.co.uk
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Colin
Brazier, who presents The Live Desk and writes on the Sky News
website, blogged that it would save the taxpayer money to send
'problem' families to the Sandwich Islands.
Under the blog post entitled
Radical Solution For Troubled Families?, Brazier
wrote:
These families -- the word is used
pejoratively in many instances to describe a collection of
biologically related children and a lone parent -- cost the
taxpayer an estimated £75,000
EACH YEAR.
But Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard
League for Penal Reform, took easy offence and told the Evening
Standard:
There is a world of difference in the
state intervening to improve troubled communities and the
state intervening to deport our citizens to far-flung
corners of the globe.
That's a Bit Rich
See article
from bbc.co.uk
India has condemned a comment by US comedian Jay Leno on the
holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple of Amritsar. A Leno skit
showed the temple as the summer home of Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney. Romney has faced taxation questions over
his huge wealth and many Sikhs are angry the temple has been
depicted as a place for the rich.
The Sikh community has launched an online petition and an
Indian minister called the comments objectionable.
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters:
It is quite unfortunate and quite
objectionable that such a comment has been made after
showing the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple is the Sikh
community's most sacred place... The American government
should also look at this kind of thing.
Freedom does not mean hurting the
sentiments of others... This is not acceptable to us and we
take a very strong objection for such a display.
Ravi said the Indian embassy would take up the matter with
the US state department, the Press Trust of India reported.
Update: Sued
26th January 2012. See article
from artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com,
thanks to Nick
Just when it seemed that the world was ready to move on from
a poorly received Tonight Show joke that supposedly
offended Sikhs a man has filed a suit against Jay Leno, the
Tonight Show host, for what he says are racist remarks.
The BBC News reports that Randeep Dhillon, an
Indian-American, has filed a lawsuit against Leno in Los Angeles
County Superior Court, saying that the routine hurt the
sentiments of all Sikh people in addition to the plaintiff.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says the joke
clearly exposes plaintiff, other Sikhs and their religion to
hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy because it falsely
portrays the holiest place in the Sikh religion as a vacation
resort owned by a non-Sikh.
Update: Early Day Motion
29th January 2012. See article
from parliament.uk
Oh
dear, even the Houses of Parliament have got involved in this
most tenuous of whinges. An MP Virendra Sharma has written an
Early Day Motion that has yet to pick up much interest:
That this House notes with concern the
sketch on the NBC Jay Leno Show where the most sacred Sikh
shrine, the Golden Temple, was disrespected by Jay Leno when
it was referred to as GOP Presidential candidate Mitt
Romney's summer home;
expresses concern and regret that this
depiction of the Golden Temple as a home of the rich shows a
complete misunderstanding of the Sikh faith and is
derogatory to Sikhs across the world; believes that these
comments are not acceptable to all those who believe in
respect for all religions;
calls on Jay Leno and NBC to apologise
to all Sikhs for this disrespectful depiction of the Golden
Temple;
and further calls on the Government to
make representations to the US government that while
recognising principles of freedom of speech there should be
more understanding and respect shown to the Sikh faith.
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| 29th January |
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| Newspaper concentration camp cartoon proves a wind up in Argentina Permalink
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See article
from ynetnews.com
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The
Jewish group B'nai B'rith, Simon Wiesenthal Center has claimed 'outrage' at a
comic strip in an Argentine local daily portraying Hitler at concentration camp
dance party.
Jewish groups have condemned an anti-Semitic cartoon strip,
FieSSta by Gustavo Sala published in Argentine paper
Pagina/12 and called on the country's government to denounce the
daily newspaper under Argentina's anti-discrimination law.
Following the protests, the Argentine daily issued an apology
on its website.
The cartoon strip's main character, DJ David Gueto (a
caricature of the French DJ David Guetta) plays music in a
concentration camp. At first, the prisoners don't want to dance
because they feel there's nothing to celebrate, saying: Do
you know that they kill us in gas chambers and make soap with
us? Hitler then appears and convinces them to dance because
life is short. Hitler then thanks the DJ, saying: If
they are relaxed, the soap will be better.
B'nai B'rith International expressed its deep outrage and
revulsion toward the cartoon, its creator and the newspaper that
chose to publish it. B'nai B'rith International Executive Vice
President Daniel S. Mariaschin said:
This cartoon strip is beyond
offensive---it is frightening. It epitomizes the blatant,
ongoing anti-Semitism that still exists, in 2012, throughout
the world. We hope the Argentine government will quickly
speak out against this unbridled anti-Semitism.
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| 28th January |
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| Swiss Canton relaxes ban on dancing on religious days Permalink
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See article
from thelocal.ch
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Swiss
canton (state) of Neuchatel has decided to relax its ban on dancehalls and
nightclubs opening on religious holidays.
Dancing is still banned on Good Friday and Christmas Day, but nightclubs
can now open on five other religious days.
In a statement released this week, Neuchatel authorities said that
dancing on religious holidays can no longer be considered disrespectful.
A total of seven cantons still ban dancing on religious days. Aside from
Neuchatel, dancing on selected days is also frowned upon in cantons Uri,
Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn and Appenzell
Innerrhoden. These are generally Catholic cantons in the German-speaking
part of Switzerland, with French speaking Neuchatel being one of the
exceptions.
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| 28th January |
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| Sri Lanka expels 161 extremist foreign preachers Permalink
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See article
from bbc.co.uk
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Sri
Lanka has reportedly ordered 161 foreign Muslim preachers to leave the
country for flouting visa regulations.
A senior immigration official was quoted as saying that the clerics had
no right to preach in mosques because they had arrived on tourist visas. He
also said that some local Muslims had complained that the visitors were not
teaching a moderate form of Islam.
The preachers - from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Arab
nations - must now leave by 31 January. 'Laughable idea'
Perera said the group belonged to Tablighi Jamaat - an international
Islamic movement popular in Sri Lanka and the region.
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